It’d been two weeks since I received the letter from my dad, and I still hadn’t decided what to do with it. Every time I made up my mind, within a couple hours I would talk myself out of it. Brody’s words kept ringing in my ear. He was right—I didn’t know my dad at all. But what if… what if this was my shot at having a real relationship with my dad?
“Different department but the same glazed over look on your face.”
I knew that voice instantly, even before the wadded-up glove hit me in the side of the head. Turning to my right, Darla’s smiling face greeted me.
“Hey! Long time, no see.” I rushed over and threw my arms around her neck. “I’ve missed your face.”
She hugged me back quickly. “All right, enough, enough. You know feelings make me ill.”
Refusing to let go, I giggled against her. “Nope. Not done yet. Deal with it.” I really did miss working with her every day, more than I’d realized until that moment. After another minute, I released her.
“Ugh.” She huffed. “I thought I was gonna have to have you surgically removed.” She ironed out her scrubs with her hands.
I leaned against the counter and crossed my arms. “How have you been? How are things downstairs?”
“They’re okay.” She rolled her eyes, grabbing the bag of chips off the counter.
“Those aren’t mine.”
“Like I give a shit.” She growled, shoving a chip in her mouth.
A happy sigh left my mouth. “I really have missed you. And your attitude.”
We’d only seen each other a handful of times since I moved upstairs. Between different floors and opposite schedules, we barely even bumped into each other anymore, except for the one time last month she hid behind my car in the parking garage. Just as I got to my car and opened the door, she jumped out and scared me so bad that I literally peed my pants.
“Seriously.” She glared at me mid-chew with a pile of chips in her mouth. “Knock it off. What happened to you? You got engaged and now you’re Suzy Sunshine?”
“Pretty much.” I laughed. “You gonna come to my wedding?”
“Depends when it is. My social calendar’s pretty full,” she answered dryly.
“You’re such a brat. We both know you wouldn’t pass up the chance to see Viper in a tux.”
“Please.” She threw her head back and laughed. “His clothes just get in the way.”
I looked at my watch. “Aren’t you getting off late?”
“Yeah, we were swamped down there this morning, but it’s calm now. Huge construction accident brought six guys in with minor to moderate injuries.” The chip bag crinkled as she shoved her hand in again. “I was really hoping one of them had a leg injury so I could take their pants off, but no dice.”
“How can you possibly be walking around horny when you’re together with Viper, the walking hard-on?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said anything about us being together?”
“Then what are you?”
A Cheshire grin slowly crept across her face as she rolled her top lip in between her teeth. “We are simply two grown, consenting individuals, who happen to enjoy each other’s genitalia… and tongues.”
“Uh… I think I came up here at the wrong time.” Zach had rounded the corner, but stopped suddenly, throwing his hands up in front of him.
Darla and I looked at each other for a split second before bursting into laughter.
“You’re fine. Come on over,” I tried to say in between giggles as I sat down on my chair behind the nurse’s station.
“What’s up with you?” Darla asked Zach, turning on the charm. “Haven’t seen you much lately,”
He ran his hands through his dirty blonde hair and let out a heavy sigh. “I know. I’ve been working so hard on trying to get this dependency program moving over in the East Building. I’ve been begging for sponsors, trying to secure funding. The hospital is behind it, but there’s a lot of politics involved, so I’m trying to do as much as I can on my own. In between that I’m trying to see the girls as often as I can. Oh, and there’s that working thing that actually pays my bills.” He laughed. “I try to do that as much as I can too.”
“I’m proud of you.” I smiled. “Once you get this thing up and running, it’s gonna be great.”
“Thanks. It’ll be small to start, but baby steps, right?” He tapped his hands nervously on the counter. “I actually wanted to talk to you about the girls, if you have a second?”
“Yep.” I took a quick peek at the monitors. “I only have two mommies and they’re both sleeping.”
“Before you start,” Darla jumped in before Zach could talk, “I’m gonna head out.” She blew me a kiss. “We’ll catch up soon.”
I blew her a kiss back and swiveled my chair to face Zach head-on. “What’s up?”
“Funny you should say that, actually. My sister is up, from Kentucky. She just had a baby a couple months ago.”
“Awww. Tell her I said congrats.”
“I will.” He nodded, his eyes darting all over the place. “Anyway, her and her husband came up with the baby and they’re going to be here this weekend. I was wondering if I could have the girls overnight?”
I was happy with the place Zach and I were in. Over the last year, he’d visited with the girls a couple dozen times, always at my house or he’d just take them out for the day. I hadn’t been comfortable with him taking them to his apartment overnight, and up until this point, he’d let me drag it out, but I knew I couldn’t dodge it forever.
Swallowing the selfish lump that had formed in my throat, I put on my most sincere fake smile and tried to sound as upbeat as possible. “Sure.”
He tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at me. “Thanks for that.”
“No problem.”
“No, not for letting me have them. Thanks for trying to sound happy about it.”
Cringing, I covered my face. “I’m sorry. Was I that obvious?”
“Kinda.” He laughed. “But I get it. It’s okay.”
I dropped my hands into my lap and looked up at him, feeling horrible. “It’s not you. I’m just not used to being away from them.”
“I know. I understand. If you’re not comfortable with it, Kacie, we can just skip it.”
“No,” I insisted. “You’ve been a constant part of their lives for almost a year. It’s time. I need to get over my issues.”
His face flushed as he dropped his gaze to the ground. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“Excuse me,” a man’s voice called out. “My wife just woke up and said the contractions are getting really bad. She wanted me to ask if you can check her?”
“Absolutely.” I stood up and walked out from behind the desk area, whispering at Zach as I walked by. “We’ll talk later, okay? But let’s plan on that.”
He nodded and thanked me again.
Fast forward to Friday night and I was a nervous wreck. I’d packed, unpacked, then repacked the girls’ bags four times just to make sure they had everything.